Lotto Changes After Making 4,702 Jackpot Winners £10 Billion Richer

Saturday 10th October 2015 saw the first draw after a series of Lotto changes were introduced, including the addition of ten more balls to the game. This was the first shift in the matrix of the game since it began with 49 balls in November 1994, a system that paid out £10 billion in jackpot prizes to 4,702 ticket holders, with 3,142 of them becoming millionaires instantly.

Under the old rules, 1997 saw the most jackpot winners made in a year, with 372 players matching all six main numbers. However, there were more jackpot-winning draws during 1999, when 95 of the 104 top prizes on offer were snapped up. Winners in 1995 have the happiest bank managers, with their jackpots averaging out at £4.9 million, more than any other full year in the game’s history.

Jackpots in the first 21 years of Lotto ranged from £720,152 on Wednesday 13th August 2014 to £42 million, shared by three players on Saturday 6th January 1996. The biggest top prize won by a single ticket was £22.5 million, which was claimed by a syndicate of two business partners after the draw on Saturday 10th June 1995.

On Saturday 14th January 1995, all of the balls drawn were from the central columns of the playslip, where many players tend to choose their numbers, and, as a result, 133 ticket holders hit the jackpot, each receiving £122,510 from a total top prize of £16.2 million.

The most common number in the winning line under the 49-ball regime was 23, which appeared 282 times. The least common were 13 and 20, being drawn just 215 times each. The most drawn pairs were 33 & 40 and 35 & 39, both of which turned up on 45 occasions.

There are now more numbers to choose from so you may have to find new methods to pick that perfect line. Perhaps the door number of your first house could hold the key to Lotto success, or maybe the ages of close family members. However you choose you Lotto numbers, make sure you play them before 7:30pm on Wednesday to be in with a chance of scooping the £7.7 million jackpot or even the guaranteed £1 million prize from Lotto Millionaire Raffle.

Lotto tickets are on sale at authorised retailers in the UK and online. Good luck!